Chief Engineer, Spacecraft

Internetwork Expert; Botany; On-site; GBP 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading aerospace company in Northern Ireland seeks a Chief Engineer to oversee the design and development of spacecraft. This role demands extensive experience in technical leadership within space systems and a strong capacity for collaboration across multidiscipline teams. You will drive system integrity and performance, ensuring that engineering solutions are innovative and reliable. Join us to shape the future of space operations with meaningful equity and competitive salary.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Equity in the company (ESOP)

Annual leave plus personal/sick days

Public holidays

Freedom to innovate and decide

Qualifications

• 10+ years of technical leadership in space systems or aerospace.
• Experience integrating mechanical, electrical, software, and mission domains.
• Ability to review and refine design approaches for technical soundness.

Responsibilities

• Lead system architecture decisions and design integrity.
• Provide guidance on technical strategy to ensure mission success.
• Facilitate technical coordination among satellite subsystem teams.

Skills

Technical leadership

Systems thinking

Collaboration

Problem-solving

Adaptability

Job description

About Us

Space Machines Company (SMC) is pioneering the future of space operations with a bold mission: to deliver Roadside Assistance in Space.

As orbit becomes more congested and contested, we act as the “first responders” protecting the satellites that power life on Earth—from communications to navigation. Partnering with both commercial operators and government agencies, we’re strengthening space resilience and enabling the growth of a sustainable space economy.

The future of space is one where satellites are monitored, maintained, and protected in orbit. At SMC, we’re making that future real.

Why Join Us

We’re a start-up — things move fast, resources are lean, and we’re building as we go.

What we offer is opportunity: to learn at speed, grow with the company, and leave your fingerprints on something that’s never been done before. At Space Machines Company, engineers, innovators, and problem-solvers join forces to push the limits of what’s possible.

If you want to build technology designed to protect and power humanity’s future in space — and see your work make a visible impact — this is where you’ll do it.

How We Work

We are builders first.

We approach every challenge through a cycle of design, build, test, and refine — making ideas real, learning from results, and improving with each iteration.

We challenge assumptions to make sure we’re solving the right problems, and we strengthen our solutions through collaboration and feedback.

We use process where it adds value and set it aside where it slows us down. There are a lot of firsts here, and we meet them with curiosity and courage.

We win as one team.

As our Chief Engineer for Optimus Viper, you are the senior technical authority responsible for the design and development of the Optimus Viper (200kg class) spacecraft, ensuring the integrity, reliability, and performance. Note that this is not a people management role, but is a technical leadership role.

You spend your time leading system architecture decisions, reviewing complex design trade-offs, de-risking technical pathways, and representing SMC’s technical credibility externally — while raising the technical bar across the company.

In this role, you own outcomes from end to end, including:

• Providing senior technical guidance on architecture, design integrity, risk, and strategy to ensure mission success
• Providing technical leadership to the satellite subsystem teams, including Structures, Thermal, Propulsion, Guidance Navigation & Control (GNC), Electrical Power Subsystem (EPS), Flight Software (FSW), Command and Data Handling (CDH) and Electronics teams.
• Lead technical coordination between the satellite subsystem teams.
• Focus on commercial- and product-facing technical priorities, including bids, proposals, and customer engagements
• Acting as the senior technical authority representing Space Machines Company in external forums, customer discussions, and strategic partnerships
• Partnering with the Director of Engineering to align technical priorities with delivery plans, resourcing, and capability development
• Reviewing and endorsing major technical decisions, risks, and trade-offs for consistency and mission alignment
• Driving uplift in engineering capability, quality, and innovation across the organisation
• Maintaining strong, collaborative relationships with the CEO, senior leadership, and peers on the Technical Council

About You

You’ll thrive in this role if you bring:

A builder’s mindset — turning ideas into real, working systems through hands‑on problem‑solving and a deep understanding of how things fit together.

An iterative approach — designing, testing, learning, and improving in cycles, balancing precision engineering with speed and adaptability.

Collaboration and curiosity — working across disciplines and exploring beyond your own expertise, drawing insight from structures, propulsion, avionics, and software teams, and you’re energised by exploring beyond your own area of expertise.

Adaptability and ownership — thrive in the ambiguity of a fast‑scaling, evolving environment and driving outcomes end to end — from concept to launch readiness.

Technical influence — providing critical design judgement and engineering oversight that elevates system performance and program integrity.

Proven experience

• 10+ years of technical leadership within space systems, aerospace programs, or other complex, high‑integrity engineering environments.
• Deep systems thinking, with the ability to integrate across mechanical, electrical, software, and mission domains to deliver coherent architectures.
• Experience advising, coaching, or guiding satellite or spacecraft R&D teams to lift technical maturity, reduce rework, and embed strong engineering discipline.
• Proven ability to review, challenge, and refine design and verification approaches to ensure technical soundness and mission readiness.
• Strong track record in delivering multi‑disciplinary systems with high design integrity and operational reliability.

What You Actually Get

You won't get rich quickly. But you'll get:

Competitive salary – Fair pay for hard work. Commensurate with experience and the impact you'll have.

Meaningful equity (ESOP) – Real ownership stake. Stock options that matter because you're joining early enough for them to matter. If we win, you win.

Actual leave – Annual leave plus personal/sick days. Because even warriors need to recover.

Public holidays – All of them.

And freedom. Real freedom to build, decide, and move without waiting for permission. That's not a benefit you'll find in a package description, but it's worth more than most perks on this list.